


Autumn Leaves (Stalwart Fall)

by Kerfluffy



Category: A3! (Anime), A3! (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Izumi Angst, One Shot, izumi-centric, sakyoizu if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:54:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27081493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kerfluffy/pseuds/Kerfluffy
Summary: Like the cascading autumn leaves dancing in the wind, everyone shall eventually bid her farewell. It's a constant occurrence in the life of Tachibana Izumi, so much so that it's almost a fact. If they haven't, well, Izumi's just counting down the moments until they do.Izumi-centric | One-shot
Relationships: Furuichi Sakyou/Tachibana Izumi
Comments: 8
Kudos: 51





	Autumn Leaves (Stalwart Fall)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This idea slapped me across the face yesterday and I finished it quicker than the other (older) WIP rotting in my laptop TT^TT It's frustrating how inspiration works. Anyways~ I hope you enjoy some Izumi angst~ 
> 
> Disclaimer: Some parts may be a bit different from canon so if there are things that don't align with the original story, please don't sue me. Just a heads up!

Izumi is 10.

She’s excited.

Her father has finally allowed her to visit the troupe’s dorms! Granted, it was just a week but Izumi was thankful her father even agreed. She’s been pestering him for weeks and weeks!

She arrives on the first day of summer, the day right after school ends. The sun shines a bit too brightly and the birds seem to sing a lot more, but it could be just her excitement talking. She bounces on the soles of her feet, and her father simply smiles at her wide-eyed gaze once they reach the theater.

“Hey dad, could I perform on that stage someday?” she exclaims. Her voice is laced with child-like wonder as she stares at the humongous stage before them. Her father laughs, a light hearty sound that bounces through the theater’s walls and thrums in her heart. He ruffles her hair and leads her to the dorms—neither agreeing nor dissenting.

She introduces herself to the troupe members. The grown-ups are nice, Izumi muses, but they’re too busy to play with her. They're too caught up in practice and exercises to entertain her amateur attempts at acting.

Tou-chan’s also busy. But then again, when was he ever _not_ busy?

Izumi doesn't mind though.

She’s used to it.

…

The newly-built MANKAI dorm is huge.

It awaits to be explored, Izumi says to herself. So she embarks on a journey. Her imagination acts as the northern star for the story she weaves.

She’s lost in her own world—of pirates, of wizards, of knights. She imagines she’s a princess. But she’s also a magical assassin. “Princesses are cooler that way!” she exclaims to no one in particular.

She runs, and jumps, and hides. Runs, and jumps, and hides. She throws caution to the wind because there are no grown-ups to stop her. Izumi knows she’s bound to bump into something if she keeps this up, but she is having too much fun to care.

And a few more steps later, that’s exactly what happens.

Izumi stumbles and crashes onto an unsuspecting victim. The fall is less painful, she thinks, only to realize the body cushioning her from the floor.

A string of apologies immediately falls from her lips and she scrambles to get up. Her mother is always strict on courtesy, so Izumi offers him a hand and pulls her victim up.

Izumi has never seen him around before. There aren’t a lot of kids around the neighborhood, and she’s positively sure that none of the actors have kids—especially a boy who seems to be older than her. Plus, she couldn’t possibly forget someone with two moles under his right eye!

But then she notices how his gaze trails to the practice room. The spring troupe’s rehearsals could be heard from where they were standing, and Izumi sees a hint of longing on the boy’s face.

“Aren’t you going in?” the words escape her lips as a bright idea flashes through her mind.

The blond boy looks conflicted and Izumi grins. Maybe she’ll finally have someone to play with!

“Come on!”

“Wait! I’m not—”

Tuning out all his protests, she calls out to her father and pulls the skinny blond boy into the dorms.

And into her life.

…

The week ends too soon.

She cries, wails, and begs her parents to let her stay. But they try to reason with her, consoling her with promises to come visit again.

So she looks at Sakyo, as if he were her last hope. She holds his hand tightly and refuses to budge. He was her first friend. He couldn’t just let her go away!

He promised he wouldn’t.

But Sakyo gives her a helpless smile. He squeezes her hand and promises they’ll find each other again.

The fight drains from her system. Her grip slackens and she finally lets herself be dragged into the car; false promises and disappointment tucked deep within her suitcase.

Sakyo walks off before their car pulls away and Izumi could do nothing but stare at his retreating figure.

Dejected hazel eyes watch as he leaves.

* * *

Izumi is 16.

She never gets to visit the MANKAI dorms again.

She throws tantrums the first times her parents reject her request, but overtime it grows tiring. A part of her seems to have known all along that she was asking for the impossible.

So she goes on with her life. She pushes the memories to the back of her mind—of the dorms and the skinny blond boy with two moles under his right eye. She tucks them safely away as if hiding a treasure in the deepest part of her closet, hoping it would make her heart hurt less.

After all, she can't miss what she doesn't remember.

...

She joins the drama club in school.

It's fun, she says to her mother. They have rehearsals after school, they paint props, make costumes, and perform on stage. "Just like what dad does with his own troupe!" she exclaims.

Her mother smiles. "You're just like your father," she says.

And as she sees a mixture of emotions flicker in her mother's eyes—worry, sorrow, pity— Izumi wonders if that was a good thing.

...

Izumi hurries home after school.

She runs as fast as she can because she just received the tickets for their school play and she finally has a part! It's a small part, but still! She finally gets to stand on stage!

So she runs and runs and runs, even as it feels like she'll stumble any moment, because she needs to get home.

She needs to give the tickets to her father before he leaves for the dorms.

She needs to see his face in the audience.

She needs—

Izumi halts as she sees her mother standing outside their house.

"He's gone."

The grin wipes off her face and the tickets fall to the ground.

...

She dreams that night.

She is sitting in the middle of a field.

Alone.

One by one her memories start to play all around her. The few, simple moments with her father that she treasures. Because he's always busy. Any amount of time or attention given—spared—to her is worth more than gold.

Izumi feels her eyes sting, so she shuts her eyes and looks away.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

When she regains her bearings, all is silent and night has fallen. She is alone once more.

Except for her father, who stands in front of her like the ghost of Christmas past. A sad smile sits on his lips as he meets her eyes.

Izumi is startled. She has a lot to ask, but her mind haywires and her chest suddenly feels tighter. The words bundle up in her throat and all that stumbles from her lips is a choked-up "Why?"

Her father only stares at her, that sad, soft smile still on his lips and Izumi is torn between her anger and her anguish. She wants to scream at him and demand an explanation, but another part of her just wants to hug him and beg him to come home.

As if sensing her inner turmoil, her father ruffles her hair—just like always. His hand trails down from her head to her cheek and wipes away a single tear that escaped. He kisses her on the forehead. He smiles once more, bittersweet and apologetic, then turns and walks away.

Izumi feels her body go limp as she falls to her knees. One tear falls after another as a poorly stifled sob escapes her lips.

Devastated hazel eyes watch as he leaves.

* * *

Izumi is 22.

She finally graduates.

She's ready to stand on her own two feet. Ready to take the theater world by storm!

_Just like her father_.

Her mother's voice echoes in her mind and she falters for a moment. But she quickly recovers and shrugs it off—shoving it to the back of the closet, along with all the other sorrows of her life.

The first audition is terrible. She is brimming with nerves and most of her audition is spent trying not to puke on stage. But Izumi just sweeps the memory under the carpet because nobody really excels on their first try, right?

The second is more bearable. She delivers most of her lines and her acting is not as hammy as usual. So Izumi waits.

That's what she does on her third, fourth, fifth time. She patiently waits. She smiles and laughs when someone asks her how it went. "Maybe they just lost my number," she says.

But on her tenth, fifteenth try Izumi feels her smile slowly turn fake, her laughter forced, her eyes dull.

"Not a single troupe would dare cast you," they say.

...

Izumi dreams of being in the spotlight. It is the only thing left of her father—theater and acting. She can't possibly let that go.

So she remains.

Alone in the large, vacant theater. Shrouded in darkness with all but a single light shining on center stage—on her. The fragments of her shattered dreams pooled at her feet.

Empty hazel eyes watch as they leave.

* * *

Izumi is 26.

The old MANKAI company has been rebuilt.

She stumbles upon the company when it was at the risk of being torn down by an annoying blond yakuza.

Izumi honestly doesn’t know where she got the gall to manage the rundown theater. She's just a failed actor who has no background experience as a director. But she is also her father's daughter and like hell would she let anyone tear down her father's hard work!

That, and the blond yakuza is really getting on her nerves.

So as days turns into weeks and weeks into months, Izumi slaves away at the theater. She randomly gathers a bunch of guys into the dorms, into the troupe—she even manages to get that annoying blond yakuza on board. Everything's chaotic and Izumi almost wants to throw in the towel. But they manage.

And she's happy.

Joyous laughter and incessant chatter fill the once empty halls and Izumi faintly remembers that faithful week sixteen years ago. Is this how her father felt?

...

Day and night, she works, works, and works herself to the point of exhaustion. She spends sleepless nights going through notes, books, journals, and even old video tapes of the first generation, doing everything in her power to whip their plays into shape.

She pours every fiber of her being into MANKAI and her actors.

Because that's all she's ever known: to give and give herself away.

So she buys them things they'll like. She does her best to cook something other than curry. She smiles and assures them whenever they worry. She laughs and holds their hand when they're glum. 

She does everything she's ever longed for.

Hoping to plant even the smallest seed of her worth into their lives.

Praying that it would make them stay. ( _Because even the heavens know she'll break—beyond saving—if they ever leave._ )

...

She wakes up at the lounge. It's midnight, and Izumi realizes she fell asleep again while working on the Autumn Troupe's training routine for their next play.

Her body aches from sleeping in such an uncomfortable position, so she stretches and a blanket falls to the ground.

Izumi looks at the blanket with curiosity and picks it up.

"Oh, you're awake."

She turns to see Sakyo returning from the kitchen, two cups in his hand. He hands her the other and Izumi gives him a grateful smile.

"You do know how wasteful it is to sleep with the light on?" Sakyo remarks, and Izumi braces herself for the on-coming lecture. But to her surprise, nothing follows.

They sit in silence for a while.

"Did you..." Izumi trails off, hesitating to continue her question.

"Yes, I brought the blanket." He sighs, "You've been overworking yourself lately. We can't risk our director getting sick."

She flinches. He's right. It's irresponsible of her. The troupe needs her to always be in tip-top shape and she isn't in the position to make her actors worry.

But if she doesn't put in the extra-effort, she'd risk making the shows mediocre at best. Is she a burden to the troupe? Surely they could get another director? Someone who actually has experience; who actually knows what they're doing and not grasping at straws like her. Would they do that? Would they leave her too—

"I understand, though." Sakyo's voice interrupts her thoughts, "You only want what's best for the troupe."

"So thank you for doing your best." He shifts his gaze to meet her eyes and for a moment, Izumi sees a younger, skinnier, blond boy in his place. "We'll continue to be in your care."

And as he smiles, Izumi notices the two moles under his right eye.

Sakyo's smile turns into a smirk at her wide-eyed gaze. "Finally remember, baka?"

...

Perhaps it was his infuriating smirk or his insult, but Izumi couldn't really care as she punches him on the shoulder and curses him. A few tears escape her eyes and she bites back a sob.

Maybe it was because it was midnight and she might wake the others, that Sakyo pulls her into a hug and whispers apologies into her ear.

And perhaps she was a fool, because when he promises to stay, Izumi smiles.

...

Glowing hazel eyes watch as they leave and head towards the stage for the curtain call. Thunderous applause and shouts of adoration bounces off the theater's walls. She watches from the curtains and smiles as Taichi runs on-stage with the others behind him.

All except for the annoying blond yakuza with two moles under his right eye, who stands in front of her with an outstretched hand.

"Come on," Sakyo smiles, "you're our director after all."

She shakes her head and laughs as she puts her hand in his. His grip is firm and he gently squeezes her hand before leading her onto the stage.

...

Izumi dreams to be in the spotlight.

So there she stands. Center-stage with her actors, hand-in-hand.

And it was more than she ever dreamed.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! 'Til next time!


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